Atlantica Presents
by Topaz Fox
Summary: Love has a funny habit of blooming everywhere, and during the most unexpected of times. Even under the sea, love runs like music through a certain boy's heart...
1. Swim This Way

(Hey there! It's Topaz speaking. I'm giving the Axel love stories a break. This time, I'm pursueing something...deeper. Get it? Deeper? As in the ocean? Oh...that was _terrible_. Forgive me. As for the chapters of this, each one will be based on a different Atlantica song. It may be a while before I update sometimes, seeing how I haven't yet unlocked all of the Atlantica songs in KH2. Okay, so, I give you my first Disney pairing! Enjoy, and as always, please read and review! --Topaz Fox)

(**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its various attachments. Actually, I don't really own the title of this, either; I saw it in my BradyGames KH2 strategy guide, and I thought it would be perfect. So I gotta give BradyGames credit for that!)

_"Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play now_

_It's very easy, come on in_

_Just take a chance and shake a fin…"_

Here he was, in the brief moment before anyone else came on stage, dancing next to her. Well, more like flailing his still-slightly-awkward fins and going through a series of choreographed moves with her. Still, it was heaven, his bare back and arms brushing hers, him feeling the currents of water carved out by the movement of her body.

Heaven in the sea.

_"Don't be shy,_

_Let the music inside_

_And dance, dance, dance!"_

Actually, it was near impossible to let the music inside. It didn't help the situation at all; its near-sickening commercial cheeriness just seemed to egg him on, made him want to show off in front of her. He wanted—needed—to do his best, just to prove himself to her.

His mind wandered back to Kairi. What would Kairi think of this? It was just a little crush, right? It didn't really _mean _anything…not really. Did it?

It was so hard to stay in love with a distant memory. Sure, he had made that promise to her, and he was usually one to believe strongly in the power of a promise. Yet…did a promise to such a far-off shadow of a girl really matter that much? Did he really love her anymore?

The depth of his thoughts distracted him slightly, causing him to miss-step—miss-swim? Regardless, she ended up having to pull him by the wrist up through the water to the next spot he was supposed to be. He wished they could just keep swimming up like that, her sweet, soft fingers around his arm, swimming up through the water, up into the air past the land and clouds and everything. Sure, they'd end up either burning to bits in the sun or suffocating in the atmosphere, but that didn't matter.

As long as he was with her, nothing mattered.

_"See the sign?_

_Can you reach it in time_

_And tap, tap, tap?"_

Indeed he could. With flawless precision, he flipped head-over-fin and tapped the big clamshell with his trusty Keyblade. Exactly in time with the music, a little baby ray swished from the now open shell and clicked together two bits of coral.

Sebastian said something from his rock perch, but the boy barreling through the water paid no attention to him. He knew this entire number already.

_"It's all the same_

_If you've got steady aim_

_Just zap, zap, zap!"_

Moving with self-assurance and pride, he twirled the Keyblade over and under his knuckles before grabbing its hilt with both hands. Demonstrating well-honed skills and the fruits of a dozen rehearsals, he let out two bright bubbles of magic from his weapon's tip, aiming them at a patch of crystal stalactites. The glassy spikes illuminated as the magic crashed into them.

Now it was time for her dance solo. With astounding grace, like she had done this a hundred times before—and she had—she swished, flipped, pirouetted in the water, finishing with a coy, inviting glance over one shoulder. Her startlingly clear blue eyes rested on his for just a moment before flickering away.

_"Just a touch,_

_'Cause it won't take too much_

_To pop, pop, pop!"_

A pair of fat bubbles rose from seemingly nowhere. He swam to them and did a fin-flourishing backflip, grazing their tight surfaces. Both of them exploded, each in a pretty ring of amber light. Next, he had to wake up that useless blob of a drummer, who somehow still depended on others to give him his cue…

_"Count him in_

_So he'll know to begin_

_To drum! Drum! Drum!"_

He tore by, spinning in the water, flashing the octopus a thumbs-up sign and a big grin. So he was happy. So what? The music had, yet again, gotten to him. Although, it hadn't gotten to him even half as much as the beautiful mermaid with the seafoam-hued tail and the lovely locks of poppy red…

The joyful chorus sounded. That was his signal to make a beeline for her, and exactly above the clamshell stage, they joined hands. He could feel her energy just through her palms: her brightness, her boldness shone through him, and he was literally jolted with amazing energy just from touching her. Still linked, the two swam downward. Right before they hit the stage, they let go of each other and performed synchronized flips, meeting again in the center of the stage.

_"Don't dilly-dally,_

_It's your big finale:_

_Sha-la-la!"_

For a second, they twirled on-stage, back to back, a refreshingly genuine smile on both of their faces. Then, still perfectly in time with the tune floating through the water, they stopped, thrust their arms in, out, then turned to face where the audience would be and posed identically, limbs outstretched.

Once again, he had done it. His part was finished. There was nothing left to do but dance a little more. Once that was over, he stood back and let himself bask in the clarity of her perfect voice:

_"Swim along,_

_Just join in the song,_

_A musical for everyone_

_To have a lot of finny fun…"_

The expression on her face during that succint solo made waves of delight pass through him. He loved seeing her this happy. The last few notes died away, and she turned to him and gave him a red-lipped smile.

"Great job, Sora!"

He smiled back, hoping against hope that he wasn't blushing. "You too, Ariel."


	2. Part of Your World

(Hi! Topaz again. First of all, I want to thank everyone who's reviewed this story so far. I just came home from an annoying, tiring weekend in the sticks, and I was pretty close to depressed...until I checked my email and saw all of the comments I had gotten. At the risk of sounding completely geeky beyond belief, I'm just so happy that you're all letting me know your thoughts! Thank you! This story is fueled by people like you. Enjoy the second chapter! --Topaz Fox)

_"Look at this stuff__  
Isn't it neat?  
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?  
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl,  
The girl who has  
Everything...?"_

As he looked at her from behind eyes misted with desire, he wanted to tell her she did have everything. Compared to the rest of the gifts in her life, the trinkets in this grotto meant nothing: she had a songbird's–song fish's?–voice, freedom to roam and endless sapphire sea, a father of noble position, friends who looked out for her, and beauty so vast it could stun any man. She had everything, and everything was a huge burden to shoulder.

He was willing to help her bear this pain, this terribly pressure of every gift one could ever want. He wanted to share his life with her...

_"Look at this trove,__  
Treasures untold,  
How many wonders can one cavern hold?  
Looking around here,  
You'd think,  
'Sure,  
She's got everything.'"_

Torpedoing past an old globe, swimming around it and watching spin lazily, he circled closer to her. He could feel the earnestness in his own eyes, and he hoped she would notice it, too. He was no longer just misting with desire; he was aflame with it.

_"I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty,  
I've got whozits and whatzits galore.  
You want thingamabobs?  
I got twenty.  
But who cares,  
No big deal,  
I want more..."_

That was when he realized she didn't have everything. No...the look on her face told infinite tales of things she still desired. He hung back, resisting the urge to take her hand in his, put his lips against hers. That empty look in her beryl-glass eyes reflected his hunger in an eerily accurate way. They shared a bond:

Both wanted something beyond their reach.

_"I wanna be  
Where the people are;  
I wanna see,  
Wanna see 'em dancing,  
Walking around on those--  
What are they called?--  
Oh. 'Feet.'"_

As she grabbed Goofy's two lower fins, smiling like a child, the dolphin-tailed boy felt snares of jealousy threaten his sanity. He felt so helpless, so pitifully helpless, and in this darkened undersea grotto. He, the great warrior, the Keyblade's Chosen One, was completely under this unwitting siren's spell. He would do anything for her.

_"Up where they walk,  
Up where they run,  
Up where they stay all day in the sun,  
Wandering free...  
Wish I could be..."_

She thrust herself up through the water, the melody in her voice swelling. As she swam closer to the surface, closer to the life she longed to be her own, a vision of everything she wanted flashed through his mind. White sandy beaches skewed themselves along his mind's eye, and behind them, villages nestled in fluffy emerald forests sat like a network of prim dollhouses. Her voice pounded so strongly through the scene that, for a moment, he saw her dance along the imagined stretch of sand. He tried to see himself with her, the two of them carefree as when they were rehearsing a song, but he couldn't.  
For the first time in his life, he knew what it felt like to be powerless.

_"Part of that world."_

Down she floated, down past the layers of useless sparkling things on shelves, down onto the shoulder of her new statue from the human world...the very same statue that the boy had freed from a rocky bed not an hour ago. Now, hate smoldered dangerously in his heart, hate directed at the statue and everything else that belonged to that world which the mermaid–his mermaid–so passionately dreamed of. He wished it was his shoulder she was now resting on, instead of the shoulder of a dead chunk of stone.

Why did he want her so? He knew perfectly well that he couldn't have her. At least, he thought he did. Somewhere under that logic, the logic that told him two creatures so different had no future together, a tiny impossible hope flickered.

Could dreams really come true?


	3. Under the Sea

(Okay, really quick, I have to say something. If anyone's noticed any slight differences in format from chapter to chapter, that's because I'm using two different computers to work on this. Just in case you were wondering. Okay, I'll shut up now. Enjoy! --Topaz Fox)

He knew now. Not only was she in love with the human world, but she was in love with a human man. He had suspected it before, but the fact that it was certain ate away at his insides, leaving his heart a gaping, unsatisfied hole. It made him a little bit sick, all of the jealously and desperate want, but the same eternal hope that had chiseled him a path to heroism glittered in the back of his mind.

This was his one chance to make her fall out of love. Even more so than the musical, this was what he had been rehearsing for.

_"The seaweed is always greener  
In somebody else' s lake."_

Even if his voice wasn't the best, it wasn't terrible, either. Those private voice lessons with Sebastian had definitely helped...

_"You dream about going up there,  
But that is a big mistake."_

It _was_ a big mistake. There was so much color, so much happiness, even so much love coating these lively reefs. Would this plan really work? Would she forget about the world above?

_"Just look at the world around you  
Right here on the ocean floor!  
Such wonderful things surround you;  
What more is you lookin' for?"_

Donald and Goofy, in theirclumsy aquatic forms, swam around and performed wide, languid loop-de-loops in the water. The choruses of sea creatures and flurry of cheerful fins lifted the chocolate-haired boy's spirits a little. This wasn't so bad. In fact, it was sort of...fun.

It must have lifted the redhead mermaid's spirits, too, because when a school of tiny cherry blossom-colored sprat jetted in a pink maelstrom around her, she rose up in the center of them. She even danced a little to the rhythm of the steel-drum clams, her perfect young body twisting gracefully, and smiled like her old self.  
His pulse quickened. It was working!

_"Under the sea,  
Under the sea..."_

It was his moment to shine. He swam closer to her.

_"Darling it's better__  
Down where it's wetter,  
Take it from me!"_

Up he swam, then down in a flip, coming near her and spreading his arms outward. Involuntarily, a wide, boyish, and conveniently convincing grin spread across his face. She giggled a little, and the bouncy music around them wiggled its way into his veins, pulsing through the stacks of sapphire halos shining around his pupils. He felt himself warm over and then light up, truly happy from the inside out.

Nothing like music to lighten one's outlook on life.

_"Up on the shore they work all day,  
Out in the sun they slave away,  
While we devotin'  
Full time to floatin'  
Under the sea!"_

Sebastian's voice brought a dolphin, an acrobat of the sea, from the shadow of an outcropping of rock. The dolphin careened and wheeled through the water, its speed punctuated with amazingly tight turns and precise loops.

_"Under the sea,  
Under the sea,  
Since life is sweet here,  
We got the beat here  
Naturally!"_

Down floated Sebastian, down into a naturally-formed bowl of ivory coral, settling in a tiny indent in its center. Stretching luxuriously in his niche, he triggered a smile from everyone. He was _such_ a ham.

_"Even the sturgeon and the ray,  
They get the urge and start to play!  
We got the spirit--  
You got to hear it!--  
Under the sea!"_

She was obviously joyful now. Everyone else was delighted, too, playing their hardest, dancing their best, chasing each other head-over-fins. Sebastian was back at his calypso clamshells, and music plunked out melodically from them. It had practically become a party.

_"Under the sea,  
Under the sea,  
When the sardine  
Begin their beguine,  
It's music to me!"_

Her voice, welcome as a rain pounding into desert dust, rang clear and true. She must have gone back to being her happy self; after all, she was singing! It didn't matter to him that he didn't know what a "beguine" was, even though he wondered about it each and every time they rehearsed the song. If she liked "beguines", they had to be good. Carefree like a sunset, she caught hold of a dolphin's tail and rode it around a pillar of rock.

_"What do they got?  
A lot of sand,  
We got a hot crustacean band!  
Each little clam here  
Know how to jam here  
Under the sea!"_

Surging with realized optimism, he spun along, whipped out his Keyblade, and struck a plump geyser. A white stream of hot water and wild bubbles spat from its opening, adding even more to the already quite festive atmosphere.

_"Each little slug here  
Cuttin' a rug here  
Under the sea!"_

Happiness turned to boldness. Without warning, he grabbed her by the waist and took one of her hands in his. She caught on instantly and, laughing and singing, she placed her free hand on his combat-toned shoulder. A sunny melange of sheer pleasure and wonder capillaried through him like spun gold, and it burned delightfully wherever her skin touched his. As they waltzed through the ocean blue, singing together, their tails brushing every now and then, the music and color encasing them blended into an ecstasy of...

Love.

_"Each little snail here  
Know how to wail here,  
That's why it's hotter  
Under the water,  
Ya we in luck here  
Down in the muck here,  
Under the sea!"_

The song ended and, breathless, the two so different, bound together by song and dance, struck an ending pose. The storm in her heart, it seemed, had been quelled…

For now, anyway.


	4. Ursula's Revenge

(I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so, SO sorry. First there was that horrible delay, and then...I repeated **two** paragraphs. That's so terribly..._unlike _me. (dramatic pause) I don't think too many people caught that mistake, thankfully, since the chapter's only been up a little while. Thanks SO MUCH to those people who told me about the error! I've fixed it now, and I promise never to do such a terrible thing again. All right...I'm gonna stop talking now. As always, enjoy! --Topaz Fox)

Disgusting.

All of it simply disgusted him. First she had gotten legs--_legs-_-from Ursula, that greasy dark blob of a sea witch, just so she could be with the…other man. Prince Something-or-Other. There had been the contract: She would lose her voice in exchange for legs. On top of that, if she didn't kiss him in three days' time, she'd return to the sea and belong to Ursula. Though the thought of being under the sea witch's rule would terrify anyone, the mermaid girl of his dreams signed her name on the oath-thick paper. She was willing to brave any consequence…

For _him_, the nameless prince pacing on the beach.

_"This witch is back to bring her wrath upon the sea!  
Triton can't be rid of me-  
Not that easily.  
And like all who dare defy me,  
He will learn his lesson well:  
Never toy with a girl like me!"_

For three long days, he had stayed on the surface, watching, half-hidden in the shoals around the shore. First, she had been discovered by the prince. She was dressed in nothing but a sea-soaked rag, strapless and tattered heavily around the edge. Such an erratic hem showed off her new legs nicely; they were long, smooth and pale, just what one would expect, drawn into two delicate little feet to match her small white hands.

Of course, the prince had taken her away even though her voice had gone. She was so beautiful; what man could resist such a face, such a body? The blue-finned boy remained in the water, staying long after the waves soaked up the sunset's artistic citrus glows. When he did at last have to return below the surface, he did so reluctantly. After a fitful night of half-sleep he returned to the beach, not wanting to miss a single second of his secret love's trials.

It wasn't long before she had appeared on the arm of the prince. He had dressed her like his own private doll in a long skirt that forced out the blue of her eyes, complete with a black corset over a chaste white blouse and a matching blue bow in her hair. She smiled and laughed the entire time she spent with him. The gladness in her lovely eyes was plain as day.

Pain had sparked the boy's entire body when he saw her like this. It…wasn't right. It _wasn't_. And yet…

He knew, deep down, that it was. She was happy. That was all that mattered…right?

The next couple of days, his heart ripped continually down the seams, fighting inside of itself. He knew that she would suffer under Ursula's reign if she didn't get that kiss. Suffering was the last thing he wanted her to experience. Yet…the kiss would seal her fate. She would stay on land, away from him, and belong to another heart.

His mind kept itself restless with impossible solutions as his heart bubbled with emotion. Even though he found himself with the constant urge to brood in some dark corner of the sea, he always stayed near the surface. He was there for her when she glanced his way, seeking silent support. He would always fake a comforting grin. Faking emotion was something he had learned to be very good at.

Yes, he had been happy when Ursula's eels had tipped the boat. The mermaid and the prince, out on a romantic evening…and their plans had been foiled. The moment had been brutally lost, the sunset's flaming passionate colors had faded. The boy had to keep himself from laughing out loud at the spectacle of it all.

However, that ruined second of passion almost certainly spelled doom for her.

So here he was now, immersed in a hurricane of unnatural darkness, fighting for a cause he didn't believe in. He _had_ to fight, or those crystalline blue eyes of hers would be lost to the shadows forever. Ursula, who had grown to a gigantic size because of the triton's power, bobbed like an anti-sunrise on the horizon. Unabridged insanity glinted in her colorless eyes. Since she was now a threatening enough evil to be reckoned with, he was left to deal with her.

That's always how it goes. Heroes are not permitted to have lives of their own.

_"Flotsam! Jetsam!  
Loyal darlings, strong as the tide;  
Precious poopsies, hasten to my side  
Right now! Mommy needs you…  
Crush those stupid fools, make them writhe!"_

Two slick green shapes rose around him and his friends. They circled mechanically, faster and faster, until at last they lowered themselves beneath the storm-darkened sea. Not a full ten seconds had passed before he felt himself being dragged underwater by two slimy, constricting forms.

For just a moment, his mind clouded over and he struggled uselessly in the eels' deathgrip. Honestly, he didn't care if he lived or died. Maybe it would be easier if he didn't live to see another sunrise…

Without warning, a rough feeling rose in the back of his chest and rippled through his whole being. He hadn't felt this since he had first gone to Hollow Bastion long ago, right at the moment when he thrust Riku's own dark Keyblade into his chest, releasing Kairi's heart. This simple feeling that pulsed rhythmically in him was the basis of his whole adventure.

It was the need to protect. No matter what the outcome, he had to protect Ariel.

He struggled harder now, jerking wildly. Miraculously, just at the moment when he needed them the most, Donald and Goofy descended from nowhere and managed to bash off the hell-bent sea creatures. The boy used a final thrust of his tail to shake himself free, and with a savior's resolve, he chased the eels through the maze of Ursula's tentacles.

They latticed through the sea like a thick net, wriggling and grasping. He threw himself through them with awe-inspiring speed. It seemed like he was following a predetermined path or invisible checkpoints, he was so accurate in his mad dash. He swerved, slalomed, doing his part-dolphin form justice. A few times, he just barely felt an appendage's tight, oily skin as it closed in behind him.

Donald and Goofy tried to follow the chase, but the former smacked headlong into a fat black tentacle, and the latter fell behind. The eels looped in French-braid formations in front of the hero, and just as he caught up to them, they turned sharply and tried to flee once more. He angled himself toward them, performed a tight backflip and braced himself, letting loose a bolt of magic from the Keyblade's tip.

The shot was even more accurate than he had planned. Just as the two eels crossed each other, the white flash collided with them and reduced them both to a spot of bubbles.

"All right!"

His two friends had found their way back to his side. Al three gazes were swept upwards as one of Ursula's huge tentacles began to shift…

_"What a feeble human.  
No, I can't believe my eyes,  
Such a stubborn royal  
Who is fighting for his prize…"_

Actually, he seemed to be fleeing, not fighting. His form paddled fearfully away from the fearsome sea witch, only to be caught by the prehensile tip of a tentacle. The trio of fighters watched from below the surface as the prince was plucked out of the water and thrown somewhere unknown.

_"Without your precious mermaid,  
Now you're crazy with revenge;  
I suppose I sympathize."_

_Crazy with revenge._ Yes, that was it. A new surge of adrenaline coursed through the finned boy as he found his own feelings reflected at him in words. All of the memories, the feelings and worries and pressures of keeping love a secret, they all bubbled up within him at that moment. His eyes flared with an iron fury. _Crazy with revenge._ He doubted strongly that the dark-haired coward prince, who was probably lying unconscious somewhere, was crazy with revenge.

But _he_ was. He needed the mermaid more than the prince did. He had fought for her, longed for her, and he _deserved_ her. The thought just drove hate into the already seething cauldron of emotion.

The trio of fighters bulleted upward. As soon as they broke through the choppy surface of the sea, the prince cried from the cowardice of a wooden dinghy, "I won't lose her!"

Simply his voice could make one cringe. It was deep and saccharine, almost whiny, and even in anguish there was a slight trace of laziness about it. The warrior boy felt his whole body flush with anger. Just to bolster the others to the idea that he was truly a hero, he shouted, "Right! We're with you all the way!"

Not.

Using momentum to his advantage, he flung himself into the air, straight at Ursula's face. He twisted slightly and, holding his Keyblade outward, loosed a great bolt of magic. Ursula deflected it easily with her stolen triton.

_"Flotsam! Jetsam!  
Loyal darlings, strong as the tide;  
Precious poopsies, hasten to my side  
Right now! Mommy needs you…  
Smash those stupid fools, make them writhe!"_

Donald and Goofy were close behind their friend. They continued to catapult toward Ursula after the boy had fallen back into the water. Almost simultaneously, they crashed into her forehead with a loud smack. She drew her overblown violet face into a grimace and brushed them off.

In response to the latest verse of her song, the boy tossed sharp words over his shoulder as he flipped triumphantly away. "Sorry, 'Mommy', but your poopsies are toast!" She groaned, and suddenly it was extremely evident how worn out she had become. The trident crackled with some sort of mystical energy short-circuit. The great sea witch was not long for this world.

_"This is not the end, my dears,  
I swear I've just begun;  
It's not over until Ursula has won!"_


	5. A New Day is Dawning

(At last! The final chapter! This will probably end a lot...um, differently than most people imagined. Ack...I'm gonna get shot for this. I myself think it's sweet and rather fitting, but that's just me. I had quite a bit of fun with this story; you might see a Sora x Ariel oneshot in the near future... Anyway, now that Atlantica Presents is finally finished, please be sure to share your opinion on the final chapter and the whole story! Enjoy! --Topaz Fox)

_"Welcome the dawning of a happy age of new beginnings!_

_Land and sea have come together,_

_Joined in peace and harmony."_

He hovered, stationary, in the water backstage, watching through the angular slat of light that led straight to the stage. Groaning a little deep down in his throat, he raked a hand through the mocha minarets of his hair, attempting in vain to soothe his pounding headache. Ever since last night, he hadn't been able to eat, sleep or even think straight. His whole being seemed to be buzzing with her heavy words.

-----

She clasped her hands behind her back and looked upward into his eyes. His heart broke as woefully absorbed the sight of her _frowning_, something he had not thought possible. "Sora…you're wonderful, you really are. You're sweet and adorable and brave, and you have so much passion for everything you do. But…" Her tiny frown neutralized into a quavering parody of a smile. "I really…"

-----

_"Fairytales and miracles_

_Are what we're singing of…"_

The muscles in his arms tensed. If only he could storm out there with the Keyblade and destroy those two witless, ugly mermaid sisters. Their mediocre singing and the lyrics it carried brought him pangs of agony that he had never felt before…

Well, almost never. The vision of an angelic little girl, another redhead, popped into his mind for the millionth time that day. Angrily, he brushed it away, but those soft lilac eyes lingered and burned twin craters into his already-throbbing mind.

_"Our dear princess Ariel_

_Truly fell in love…"_

Damn the coward prince to a thousand years of burning hell… Damn true love as well…

_"With a prince, a human prince,_

_Who lived so far above."_

A clamshell rose up between the two girls. As soon as it swept its great curling halves apart, it became evident that the blonde and brunette mermaids on either side were simply pillars of flesh and bone. They were only there to showcase the flawless gem that now sat, poised, on the clamshell's magenta inner cushion. He visually caressed the way her crimson hair billowed out dramatically behind her, constantly moving in the water. When song flowed from her painted lips, it was as if the sea became physically sweeter, and the tiny lines of sunlight dancing in beams through the waves gleamed with the beauty of fine-spun gold.

_"Wishes really can come true_

_If you want them to;_

_And this happiness inside_

_I owe to every one of you."_

He felt his insides constrict with a mixture of fear and fury as he prepared to swim out to the stage. Every muscle in his body contracted until he felt like he was made of cold, dead steel and nothing more.

-----

"…Love Eric."

Nothing had ever hurt this much. Not since…no. He quickly erased the memory of the _other_ girl, whom he had convinced himself was no more than a friend.

The mermaid before him looked up, her eyes polished with remorse. "I like you, Sora. Quite a bit. I always have, ever since you were a naïve little boy." She bit her lip so hard he thought it might draw blood. Not that it would matter if it did…

"But I don't just _like _Eric. I'm sure you understand when I say that my heart belongs to him.

"You have someone your heart belongs to, too, Sora. And she misses you."

-----

_"How about an introduction_

_To these lovely friends of yours?"_

She lit up with joy and gratitude, as did her voice. The obvious improvement of her demeanor shot his heart to pieces. He felt...like he had let her down, somehow. Like her happiness was wasted on him.

_"Come take a bow_

_Donald, Goofy, and Sora!"_

The octopus duck and the turtle dog darted out from the depths of the backstage area, careening along with the fluidity of twin torpedoes. The dolphin boy was not nearly so fast. He focused on methodically pumping his tail up and down, pushing through the water and trying to stay on a straight path. Donald opened his mouth first and let loose the pinched, pickled voice that had made him famous:

"_Congratulations, dear princess, to you!"_

Spinning his cyan-tentacled body away, Goofy popped up next, more talking than singing:

_"You found your first love, and he found you, too."_

For some strange reason, the boy lagging behind felt…touched. The prince _was _her first love, wasn't it? He felt an invisible bond connect him with her; not a channel of lustful energy, but a genuine feeling of amity. He remembered briefly when he had first met her. He was so little then, and so guileless…

Something prickled in the back of his chest. He had a first love, too, didn't he? With a brass-forceful pang, he realized it was his first and only true love. He had had a crush on the mint-tailed mermaid, but perhaps he only felt that because…

Because she reminded him so much of her. Red hair, bright eyes, beautiful laugh.

_"We were glad to help you out_

_And very proud, it's true."_

His voice came out forced and hollow. He felt lodged in the state between love and friendship, and was confused with what to do next. Frightened, he realized he didn't feel like he used to. The mermaid seemed…far away, even though she was so nearby.

But he couldn't give up on something he had fought so hard for. Could he?

_You fought harder for something else. Did you give up on that?_

_"Seeing how we made you grin_

_Just makes us want to twirl a fin!"_

Near center stage, the two other mermaid sisters twirled around their gorgeous counterpart. The effect was kaleidoscopic, blurred with movement and song and color. She remained still, the axis of the sea at this moment in time. All eyes were on her.

_"Wishes really can come true_

_If you want them to;_

_And this happiness inside_

_I owe to every one of you."_

Suddenly, the two generic mermaids bolted, reappearing behind a massive stone column. The brunette clutched the blonde's shoulder and both of them peered out shyly at the scene.

_"Be so kind and introduce_

_The King and these, his loyal friends."_

She beamed once again.

_"Please say hello_

_Daddy, Sebastian, Flounder!"_

An air of awe passed over the audience and cast alike as Triton, great King of the seas, arced overhead in his golden chariot. The vehicle shone like the sun on water, pulled expertly by two highly-trained royal dolphins. Speeding along with such grace he seemed to flow, the King raised his triton, at last pried from Ursula's grasp, and sent a slim gleam of magic to a cluster of crystal stalactites. The sparkling formation of spikes lit up majestically from the inside out, smoothing a starlight-colored glow over everything.

"Ariel, I'm so happy for you," he said in a voice as placid as lamb's wool.

Watching from below, the dolphin-tailed boy felt another sharp ache. Triton had been, to say the least, against the idea of his daughter wedding a human. Now he seemed…celebratory? It didn't make sense.

_You're happy for her, too. Don't hide from yourself._

Sebastian sang out at his conductor's stand.

_"Yes, happy endings are so rare and so few!"_

Flounder wobbled up, propelled by his flimsy blue fins. Almost everyone flinched as his voice sounded. It was not what one would call…developed.

_"We were glad to help_

_And very proud, it's true."_

_"Seeing how we made you grin_

_Just makes us want to twirl a fin!"_

The ever-present mermaid sisters swam in perfect circles before the conductor's stand. They seemed to warp into a smudged ring of coral colors. Gradually, they rose upward, following the notes they sang.

_"Any other friends of yours_

_That might be waiting in the wings?"_

Largely forgotten, the boy delved into his thoughts. Gazing at the girl he had helped, protected, been there for, he saw through the mist that had made his life miserable. He had been so lonely…it had been so long since anyone but a dog and duck had lived life with him. He longed for completion in the form of someone he could open up to…someone who knew him back and front, who looked and acted in ways he admired…

Then Ariel had appeared, an angel with fins. He had taken her as a substitution. A once-true friend had become an obsession, a filler.

_"Come say hello_

_All my friends from every corner of the world!"_

Dolphins, groupers, rays, jellyfish, angelfish, bass, sprat and more poured in. They were a heavenly ensemble, a deluge of life and joy. All sorts of shapes, sizes and colors collected from every corner of the sea, piling up around the stage. Surrounded by this, the boy at last found truth.

It seemed silly, impossible, strange, but it was truth. A new day was dawning.

_"Welcome the dawning of a happy age of new beginnings!_

_Land and sea have come together,_

_Joined in peace and harmony._

_Fairytales and miracles_

_Are what we're singing of;_

_Our dear princess Ariel,_

_Prince Eric from above…"_

There together on stage, the whole plethora of them danced and sang, causing the whole concert hall to reverberate with loud, jubilant noise. They were unified in the joy that only mutual love could bring. Nobody was afraid, nobody worried. And, as the boy looked to his right side, he smiled at the object of his painful affection and mouthed something subtly:

_Still friends?_

Her eyes glittered. She gave him the first true smile he had seen in a long time. Without warning, he was swept with the exhilaration of letting go. She mouthed something back:

_Of course._

Bubbles streamed silver from somewhere unknown, signaling the finale. And it _was _the finale: the end of pain, the end of insecurity, and the end of loneliness.

Most importantly, it was the end of an old age.

He and her, Sora and Ariel, twirled around each other and joined hands. Her touch still warmed him, but he could see through the heat now. They each stole a look at each other, smiled, and bowed as the last words were uttered amidst a thunderclap of applause.

_"A happy end, forever after…_

_Full of joy and love."_

-Fin-


End file.
